


Lights Off

by ghost_like



Series: 31 Days of Halloween 2k18 [25]
Category: VIXX
Genre: Jyani To The Rescue!, M/M, Malignant Genius Loci, Psychological Horror, not really horror
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-28
Updated: 2018-10-28
Packaged: 2019-08-09 06:04:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,276
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16444238
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ghost_like/pseuds/ghost_like
Summary: That Sanghyuk had missed one day of work was weird enough, but it had already been three days with no sign of him. It was understandable that most people there didn’t notice or didn’t think much of it, as they were not exactly a tight knit group of co-workers, but Jaehwan noticed.(Sequel toFive Streetlamps.)





	Lights Off

**Author's Note:**

> this is not very good and i am very sorry
> 
> the prompt was "something in the darkness"
> 
> enjoy♡

That Sanghyuk had missed one day of work was weird enough, but it had already been three days with no sign of him. It was understandable that most people there didn’t notice or didn’t think much of it, as they were not exactly a tight-knit group of co-workers, but Jaehwan noticed. Or course he noticed, how could he not - he’d had a crush on Sanghyuk for ages. He couldn’t say they were _super_ close or anything, but they were close enough for Jaehwan to know that Sanghyuk was not the type to just take off and disappear like that.

Calling him was no use - all he ever got when he tried was the message saying the phone was turned off. He didn’t have any of Sanghyuk’s social media, so trying to reach him through any of them would be no use, which meant he would have to take a more direct approach - such as sneaking into management’s office to get Sanghyuk’s address from his file.

He didn’t know that would be the easiest part of his search.

That same night, after his shift had ended, Jaehwan pulled out the map app on his phone and set out to visit Sanghyuk’s place. He knew Sanghyuk lived alone, having moved out from his hometown to attend college, but surely _someone_ had to have noticed he was missing besides himself.

Unless, of course, he was only missing from work and not from other areas of his life.

It was somewhat late when he finally reached the neighborhood after getting lost about three times. It was chilly that night, forcing Jaehwan to zip up his jacket and tuck his chin into the collar; he regretted not having worn a beanie that day. His ears were cold. Hopefully, Sanghyuk would be home and invite him inside to warm up. That would be ideal - maybe he could ask to spend the night. Jaehwan smiled bashfully to himself at the thought of sharing a bed with Sanghyuk.

He checked the map one more time as he neared a minimart on the corner of the block, making sure he was going the right way this time, and turned left. The street ahead him was long, narrow and empty, five lone streetlamps casting down their yellow light on the pavement. For some reason, Jaehwan shuddered; the temperature in that street had dropped significantly, but the shudder was not a product of the cold.

Squaring his shoulders, Jaehwan began his walk down the street. He was close to Sanghyuk’s place now, about half a block away. One of the streetlamps above him flickered. He picked up his pace.

He reached the end of the block, turned left again and— Five streetlamps lay ahead. Jaehwan frowned and looked back the way he’d come. Minimart. He checked his phone - it had turned off and was not turning back on, even if he was positive he had more than half of his battery left not two minutes ago. He rushed down the street and, again, once he turned the corner, he found himself standing by the minimart, five streetlamps looming ahead. He tried again, and again, even going back the way he’d come, only to get the same results.

Had he gotten trapped into some weird time-loop? That just was not possible. He fixed his fake glasses with his middle finger to keep them from sliding down the slope of his nose, trying to stop his mind from reeling for a second so he could think. Was that why Sanghyuk was missing? Had he gotten somehow trapped in that loop, if that was a loop at all?

That just wouldn’t do. He kicked the first streetlamp in retaliation - which was dumb in retrospect since now his toe was hurting - and began walking down the street again.

“Sanghyuk!” he called, cupping one hand around his mouth. “Sanghyuk, are you there?”

Nothing, just a sudden gust of wind that displaced the hair over his forehead. He soldiered on, grumbling under his breath like an old man. Stupid hell dimension street or whatever that was.

“Sanghyuk! Hyooooogi!” he called, this time in a cutesy voice. “Scream if you’re trapped in this ugly street!”

There was an odd rumble of sound somewhere behind him, and Jaehwan turned around to check his surroundings - he was still as alone as he’d been so far. Uneasy, Jaehwan turned forward again and continued walking, calling for Sanghyuk.

Again and again, he crossed that same street, walked by those same five streetlamps, still with no sign of Sanghyuk. When he turned around the corner again, though, the first lamp was off. He frowned up at it, glaring at it suspiciously for a moment.

“You don’t scare me, you big piece of rusty metal,” he declared proudly, kicked the post again, and continued on his way.

He walked down the street and rounded the corner, and now the second streetlamp was off. He rolled his eyes at how horror movie cliche it was - he knew he should be scared, but he was tired and really not in the mood to deal with whatever was going on.

“Hyogi!” he called once more, his voice echoing back to him in the empty street. “Hyogi, I know you’re here somewhere!”

Of course, there was no reply. He rounded the corner again, and the third streetlamp was off. His steps didn’t falter this time around, as he was already expecting that to happen, and yet again he walked down the street and rounded the corner. This time, he stopped.

There was a figure standing all the way on the other side of the block. For a brief moment, Jaehwan thought it was Sanghyuk but he quickly dismissed it - whoever it was, wasn’t as tall or broad-shouldered as Sanghyuk. He would know. He’d spent enough time watching Sanghyuk and daydreaming about him naked to have his body type ingrained to his memory.

Something about that figure made him uneasy, though. It wasn’t supposed to be there - he didn’t know how he knew, but he did. He just knew.

And if the figure rounded the corner, they would come out right behind him.

Jaehwan continued to walk, eyes locked in the figure. There was another rumble of sound in the darkness behind him, but he paid it no mind and continued walking at the same pace. There was a prickling on the back of his neck, as if he was being watched. Or followed. Or both. He tried not to give in to panic - if he did, he would never find a way out.

When he was about halfway down the street, the figure slowly turned and rounded the block. Jaehwan stopped and looked behind himself. He couldn’t see anything through the wall of darkness, but his heart began pounding faster and all the hair on his body stood on end. There was something there, and whatever it was, was getting closer. He continued walking, faster this time.

As he approached the last streetlamp, he thought he heard something - someone. A voice. He looked around, looking for its source, but saw nothing. Maybe he would if he walked back around.

He rounded the corner once more and emerged at the beginning of the street to another streetlamp turned off and that same figure standing on the other side, as if waiting for him. Jaehwan scowled at whoever that was and began walking again. He refused to let himself be intimidated, not when he’d come so far. He hadn’t found Sanghyuk yet. He only wanted to find Sanghyuk.

That feeling of being watched intensified; Jaehwan could almost feel something breathing down his neck, but whenever he turned around to check, there was nobody there.

Once he reached the middle of the street, again the figure turned and rounded the corner. Jaehwan continued on but stopped once he heard it again - a voice.

“Sanghyuk?” he called, voice shaky and heavy with hope. There was a voice again, and he turned to face the wall, the side of a building, all red bricks and no windows - that’s where the sound came from. “Sanghyuk, is that you?”

He heard it again, not quite a word, more like a pained groan. Jaehwan stepped up to the wall and began palming its bricks, searching for any loose ones, perhaps a hidden door. He heard the noise again, further down the street, and followed the sound, slapping at the brick wall as he moved. It was Sanghyuk, Sanghyuk was there and he needed help. He was going to find him.

“Sanghyuk!” he called out, his voice loud in the quiet street. “Sanghyuk, keep making noise, I’m going to find you!”

His hope only sparked brighter when the noise continued, louder this time. Jaehwan frantically palmed the wall, punched it at times, and it yelped loud when, at some point when he was close to the last streetlamp, his hand just slipped right through the wall, as if it was made of clay or playdough, sticky and slimy, coating his arm in brick-colored goo. He grimaced, a putrid smell of decay invading his nostrils and coughed, everything he’s ever eaten in his entire life wanting to come back up and out of his mouth, but he clamped his mouth shut and began to dig through the substance, clawing big chunks out of it and tossing them out carelessly to the pavement around him.

He didn’t have to dig for too long before he felt something firm under his palm - fabric and skin. Jaehwan gasped, digging with double the effort. “Sanghyuk! Sanghyuk, I got you, I got you!”

He felt Sanghyuk’s fingers closing loosely around his wrist, heard him make another muffled noise, and change his digging spot to uncover his face first. Soon enough he managed to see his nose, then his mouth, his eyes. Jaehwan barely noticed he’d started crying, both with relief and terror, as he continued to remove handfuls of that strange slime covering Sanghyuk. When he felt like he’d gotten rid of enough goo, he grabbed Sanghyuk’s upper arms and began pulling him out of the wall, one foot propped to the bricks for added strength. Sanghyuk was weak, barely conscious, but he was trying his best to help, to pull himself away from the grasp of the building.

When he finally managed to dislodge Sanghyuk from the wall, it was with a loud yelp and a dull thud of his back hitting the ground, his glasses crooked on his face and Sanghyuk heavy on top of him. He gave himself a second to recover, hugging Sanghyuk tight, afraid that something would come from the shadows around them and steal him away. Only when he thought he could breathe properly was that he pushed himself up to a sitting position, wrangling Sanghyuk’s limp form to lie across his lap.

“Sanghyuk, Sanghyuk, talk to me, are you alright?”

Sanghyuk coughed, blinking rapidly for a few seconds before his eyes focused on Jaehwan. He gave him a weak grin. “You better be real.”

Jaehwan snorted, wiping some of the goo from Sanghyuk’s face. “I’m real.”

“Good,” Sanghyuk said and took a deep breath. “Good. Before some random wall tries to eat me again, wanna go out some time?”

Jaehwan laughed out loud at that and nodded, hugging Sanghyuk awkwardly in the angle they were in. “Yes! Yes, I want to go out with you!”

Sanghyuk hugged him back, grip weak, but solid nonetheless. “We need to get out—”

“How do we get out?”

“Lamp.”

“Lamp?” Jaehwan echoed and frowned, pulling away from the hug to give Sanghyuk a quizzical look.

“Lamp,” Sanghyuk said and nodded, pointing up at the last streetlamp, still casting down its light upon them. “Break the lamp.”

Jaehwan looked up at the lamp and then around them, looking for something he could use to throw at the lamp. Sanghyuk seemed to read his mind, for he weakly patted at the pocket of his jeans, pulling out his cellphone. Jaehwan arched an eyebrow at him.

“It’s busted already, it’s fine,” he said. Jaehwan sighed but complied with a nod, detangling himself from Sanghyuk so he could stand up to throw the phone at the lamp.

He bounced the device on his hand, testing its weight, and after taking a deep breath and aiming, he used all the little strength he had left after digging through the slime to save Sanghyuk to toss the phone at the lamp. Miraculously, it hit its target, shattering it and plunging them into darkness. Jaehwan dropped to the floor, bodily covering Sanghyuk, as an animalistic wail rang all around them, pained and loud, a rumble of suffering that would haunt Jaehwan’s nightmares for the rest of his life.

And then it was silent.

When Jaehwan opened his eyes again, the street was lit up again, four of the streetlamps casting light down on the pavement - all except the last one.

They were out.

“Come on, let’s get out of here,” Jaehwan helped Sanghyuk up, keeping him upright by wrapping his arms around his middle.

When they rounded the corner, finally, they were met with a different street. Both of them sighed with relief in unison, grinning at each other.

“I can’t believe you came looking for me,” Sanghyuk said as they walked towards his house.

“You would have done the same for me. I think,” Jaehwan answered, to which Sanghyuk laughed in return.

“I absolutely would,” he confirmed. “After we take a shower or ten, can I kiss you?”

Jaehwan blushed, but was too overcome with happiness and relief to care.

“If you don’t kiss me, I’ll shove you back inside that wall.”

**Author's Note:**

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